Machine for reducing wire rods



8 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. TUCKER. MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS.

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(No Model.) 8 SheetsSheet 2.

W. TUCKER. MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS. No. 332,572. v Patented Dec. 15, 1885.

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mfizewes j nvezuor 4; 5; W mum/:1 TUCKER 153/ 7223' flZZorney M Ce W N. PETERS, PhoYD-Lilhugnpher, Washmglnm D, C.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. TUCKER.

MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RUDS. N0. 332,572. Patented Dec. 15, 1885.

Wiinea'ses Inventor Q6 C, mum/v Tue/ H,

33/ ink Mora N. PETEna Pnnwuihc n mr, Wuthlngion. D. C.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. TUCKER. MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS.

m a n w MOMMA. m D W m h M w J F F j M o 5 2 l M F e 3 m N. PETERS. Phalohlhognphar, Washingtnm D C.

8 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

W. TUCKER. I MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS.

Patented Dec. 15, 1885.

2 w A w o omw IrF 1 w E o 6 in 70 (N0 Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 6. W. TUCKER.

MACHINE FOR REDUUINGWIRE RODS.

N0. 332,57 Patented Dec. 15, 1885.

WZZIZQJJeJ Ifiveniior N PETERS. Photo-Lilhographer. Wnhington. n. c.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 7.

' W. TUCKER.

MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS. N0. 332,572. Patented Dec. 15, 1885. F198;

PETERS, Phoioljliwylphur. Washington. D, C.

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(NoModeL) W TUCKER MACHINE FOR REDUGING WIRE RODS UNETED STATES PATENT tries.

"WILLIAM T UOIKER, OF EAST BROOKFIELD, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND F. F. BULLARD, OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR REDUCING WIRE RODS.

SPECIF 'ICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,572, dated December 15, 1885.

Application f led March 6, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Brookfield, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Reducing \Vire Rods, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in trains of rolls for reducing wire rods and other 0 small rods or bars of iron or steel, or apparatus of this general description. Heretofore twosystems of rolling have been employed in the more simple forms of such apparatus. In onethe sectional shape of the rod or bar is preserved,or substantially preserved, throughout the reducing process. In the other the sectional shape becomes round, or approxi mately round, and square, or substantially square, alternately. Both involve the use of grooved rolls of high original cost, and requiring frequent adjustments and renewals, except for the reduction of angular bars according to the system first named. In this case the whole width of one or more narrow 2 roll-faces must be used, resulting in the rapid destruction of their edges, and the metal is rolled at the greatest disadvantage. I

My present invention consists in an improved apparatus of said general class, so constructed 0 that rods or bars are reduced therein with alternate change of sectional shape in one sense, so that fresh narrow surfaces or edges are exposed to the successive sets of rolls,while at the same time the successive sets of rolls are uniform as to shape of pass and general arrangement. The rolling is at each pass radially inward and upon relatively narrow edges of the metal. All the rolls are flat-faced,- and their edges need never be subjected to strain. Reduction may be prodigiously rapid, and fins are absolutely avoided. The product may be of hexagonal or octagonal cross section, )rel'erably the former,and it is adapted for such uses as telegraph-lines and fences, or

5 to be further reduced by drawing in the manuacture of wire below its gage size, which may be No. 12 or less.

This invention consists, further, in certain novel combinations of parts, hereinafter set so forth and claimed, whereby the construction and adjustment of the respective parts of the ScrialNo.15T,il06. (No model.)

apparatus are facilitated. Twisting or deflecting the metal in order to present fresh edges thereof to the successive rolls, as aforesaid, is obviated. The metal is positively guided at every point, so as to preclude its accidental escape, and a suitable stretching tension on the same is preserved with facility.

Eight sheets of drawings, bearing thirty figures, accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figures 1 and 2 of these drawings, Sheet 1, are respectively a side elevation and a top view of an apparatus for reducing wire rods illustrating this invention. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is an elevation,on a larger scale,of the receiving end ofthe'reducing apparatus proper. Fig. 4, Sheet 8, is a face view of that rolls-sec tion seen in Fig. 3. Fig. 5, Sheet 4., is a vertical section ofsaid rolls-section and adjoining parts on the line 55, Fig. 4. Fig. 6, Sheet 5, is aface view of the next or middle rolls-section, and Fig. 7, Sheet (3, is a vertical section of the latter and adjoining parts on the line 7 7, Fig. 6, all on the same scale as Fig. 3. Figs. 8 to 14., inclusive, Sheet 7, are detail views of portions of the continuous guide of the apparatus, on a still larger scale, Figs. 8 a n 9 being, respectively, end and side yiews of that guide-section which delivers the metal to the second set of rolls; Figs. 10 and 11, respectively side and end views of the receiving guide-section which adjoins the former; Figs. 12 and 13, side and end views of one part of the guidesection last named, and F1 14 a side view of a connecting guide section. Figs. 15 and 16, Sheet 4, are respectively an end view and longitudinal section, on said larger scale, of one of the struts which support the receiving guidesections. Figs. 17 to 20, inclusive, Sheet 8, are magnified end views of the bore,with cross-sections of the metal therein, showing the shape of the former and the relative positions of its angles in successive delivering guide-sections, and also the positions of the joints between the parts of the latter, Fl 17 showing the delivery end immediately before the pass of the first set of rolls, Fig. 18 that immediately before the pass of the second set, Fig. 19 that immediately before the pass of the third set, and Fig. 20 the final delivery. Figs. 21 to 25, inclusive,

Sheet 8, are corresponding magnified crosssections of the metal and elevations of the inner edges of the successive sets of rolls, showing the relative positions of the latter and the form of each pass more clearly, Fig. 21 being a cross-section of the wire rod, Fig. 22 a cross-section in the plane of the first pass, Fig. 28 a cross-section in the plane of the second pass, Fig. 24 a cross-section in the plane of the third pass, and Fig. 25 a crosssection of the product. Figs. 26 to 30, inclusive, Sheet 8, are a series of magnified views corresponding with those last described, illustrating the employment of four rolls in each set, and the production of wire octagonal in cross-- section, as a modification of this invention.

Like letters of reference indicate parts of like name and function in the several figures. One and the same apparatus for reducing round wire rods to hexagonal wire is illu-s: trated by all the figures of the drawings, except the last'five figures aforesaid. In this apparatus three upright beds, B B B, (seen assembled in Figs. 1 and 2,)are supported upon the planed top of a horizontal base, B, common to all, which is provided with a central longitudinal groove, 9, i n its top, and is bolted to the floor, while said beds standthereon, having planed bottoms. provided with central ribs, r, fitted to and occupying said groove 9, whereby said beds are kept in line, and provision is made for readily moving them toward or away from each other in assembling the parts and in making repairs. Three sets of reducing-rolls, RR R threein each'set, are mounted, with their appurtenances, on the respective beds, and a continuous guide, composed of three delivering-sections, G, three receiving-sections, G", two connecting-sections, G, making eight in all, extends from end to end of the apparatus, being supplemented by three sets of tie-rods or struts, S S S three in each set, as hereinafter more fully set forth. Finally,'with reference to the apparatus as a whole, a pair of suitable reels, F W, Figs. 1 and 2, are erected at the respective ends of the apparatus, each being preferably constructed, as shown, with radially-adjustable tapering pins p,to receive the coils of wire rod and wire, while the reel proper of eachis fast on a horizontal shaft mounted in a strong frame, by which the delivery-point of the feeding'reelF and the receiving-point of the winding-reel \V are-located in line, ornearly in line, with the passesof the rolls. The feeding-reel F has, a

brake-wheel, b, fast on its shaft, and a brakelever, Zfi, pivoted in its frame, and the winding ree1 W has a driving-pulley, d, loose on its shaft and constructed with the inside of itsrim tapering. A clutch-slide, c, havinga conicalperiphery fitting into said rim,is feathered to said shaft, so as to turn the latter, and a hand-lever, c", is pivoted tothe reel-frame,

and connected by pin and groove with saidclutch-slide, so as to provide for moving the. latter and holding it more or less tightlyin:

frictional mesh with said pulley.

As these reels are old, per se, further description of their construction is. deemed unnecessary.

The rolls-sections of the reducing apparatus proper and said guide-sections and struts are of peculiar construction and arrangement, which will now be more particularly set forth. The back of each of the beds B B B (seen at the right in Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 7, and in the end view, Fig. 3,) is a flatsurface simply penetrated by a central round hole, h, concentric with the passes of the rolls, and providedwith three screw-holes, 8, around said hole, as indicated in said Figs. 3,5, and 7, to receive the countersunk attaching-screws of said delivering guide-section G, Figs. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, and 9. The face of' each bed, (seen at the left-in Figs. 1', 2, 5, an-d 7, and in the face views, Figs. 4 and 6,) is likewise provided, around; said hole h; in each with screw-holes s to receive screws aprojecting from the inner endsof said struts. S S S Figs. 1, 2, 5, 7, 15, andlfi, to providefor attaching said receiving. guide sections G", Figs. 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10 to .1 3, inclusive, which are held in place by countersunk screws passing through the flangesof the guide-sections into screw-holes s" in the outer ends ofthe-struts, a-sshown in Figs. 5iand 7; (See Figs. 15 and 16 forlarge scaleviewsof one of said-struts detached.) As best shown in these-figures, said strut-attaching SOIQWSwS, Fig. 16, are preferably made separate, inserted in axial holes in the inner ends-of thestruts and pinned fast, and the outer-end of, each strut is preferably milled to hexagonal form, to provide for screwing home said screws-s by means ofa wrench-applied tothe square s so formed.- After the struts are attached,.the receiving guide-sections are attached thereto, as aforesaid, and the connecting guide-sea tions G, Figs. 1, 2, 7, and 14, are coupled at their respective ends to the flanges of those attached receiving and delivering guide-sections between the, middle and end rollssections by screws inserted through its-flanges into screw-holes s in the flanges first named, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. Each of said guide-sections G Gr G is composed of three. parts, as clearly shown in, Figs. 8 to 14, inclusive, its radial joints j being one hundred and twenty degrees apart, planed true, and made tight by clamp-screws, s4, perpendicular to each joint, as best seen in dotted lines in Fig. 11, and elsewhere indicated. Theholes If, Figs. 5, 7', 8, 11-,and;13,-. through which, said attaching-screwsenter said screw-holes s? and s", are in each case, formed inthe radial jointsof the flangesof the. guide-sections, being subjected to nolat-- eral strain, while the heads of said-screws la-p, the joints, and said screw-holess arethus'acr commodated in solid metal midway betweenv the radial joints. guidesection is-preferably cylindrical, and its-flange or flanges concentric therewith,

as shown, tofacilitate making them.v The inner ends ofthe delivering and receiving The body or-trunk, of-eachguide-sections are milled to triangular form, as indicated at m in Figs. Ste 13, inclusive, and three radial slots, 8, are milled therein perpendicular to its sides, said sides and slots being arrangedwith reference to the respective sets of rolls so that the slots coincide with the rolls and admit the latter to the guide proper or bore of the guide, as indicated by dotted outlines of fragments of the rolls R in Figs. 9 and 10. (See, also, Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, and Figs. 17 to 19, inclusive.) The bore of the guide (best seen at b in Figs. 17 to 20, inclusive) is of four patterns. The first pattern of bore isround, being fitted to the wire rod X, Fig 21, as shown in Fig. 17, and is formed in the delivering-section G, attached to the bed B of the first rollssection, into which the wire rod is fed from said feeding reel F, Figs. 1 and 2. This extends to the first pass, that of said rolls R shown in Fig. 22. The second pattern of bore (shown in Fig. 18) is triangular, being fitted to the metal X, as shaped in said first pass, and this pattern of bore is formed in the receivingsection, G", attached to said bed of the first rolls-section by said struts S, and in the connecting-section G, between this rolls-section and the second one, and in the deliveringsection G, attached to the bed B of said second rollssection and extending to the second pass, Fig. 23, being that of said second set of rolls, R The third pattern of bore, Fig. 19, is triangular, but ofsmaller size, and inverted, as compared with said second pattern, being fitted to the metal, X, as shaped in said second pass, and this pattern of bore is formed in the receiving-section G", attached to said bed of the second rolls-section by said struts S and in the connecting-section G between this rolls-section and the third one, and in the delivering-seetitn G, attached to the bed B of said third rolls-section and extending to the third pass, Fig. 24, being that of said third set of rolls, It, as aforesaid. The fourth pattern of bore, Fig. 20, is hexagonal, as shown, but may be similar to the second, only smaller, being fitted to the metal, X, as shaped in said third pass, and this pattern of bore is formed in the receiving-section G", attached to said bed of the third rolls-section by said struts S the outer end of which forms the final delivery or exit, from which the product, X, Fig. 25, passes to said winding-reel XV, Figs. 1 and 2.

To facilitate forming said triangular portions of the guide'bore b and at the same time to provide for locating said screw-holes 8 in solid metal, as aforesaid, and for locating the struts S S S between the rolls R R R of the respective sets, each of the successive guide-sections from the feeding end to the discharging end of the apparatus, or from right to lelt, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, is turned or reeled one-sixth ofa revolution, or sixty degrees, relative to the one to its right. Oon= sequently said triangular portions ot'the guidebore may be formed by simply planing off the central angles of each part of the several guidesections, as shown in Figs. 8,11, 13, 18, and 19, and the screw-holes and struts are all accommodated, as aforesaid.

The second and third sets of rolls,R R are each reeled correspondingly sixty degrees relatively to the one next to the right, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, and the result is that at the second and third passes, Figs. 23 and 24:, the roll-faces are opposed to the angles or edges of the metal, X, as shaped at the next preceding pass, and the metal consequently offers the least possible resistance to the reducing action of the rolls, and is worked with great uniformity in the rolling in of the angles successively formed, while, owing to the fact that the metal is acted on simultaneously by three rolls in each set, the corners of the passes are never filled, and hence there can be no fins on the product, the edges of the rolls never do any rolling, and the greatest strain is located at the middle of each rollface, where the rolls are strongest, as aforesaid. The rolls R R R" diminish in thickness or in width of face from the feeding end of the apparatus to its discharging end, or from right to left, as viewed on the first and last sheets of the drawings in said Figs. 1 and 2 and 22 to 24, inclusive. Taking the thickness of the wire rod X,Fig.21,at about twentyfive one-hundredths of an inch, (0.25,) the thickness of the first set of rolls may be twentyfour one-hundredths, (0.24,) that ofthe second set one hundred and eighty-four one-thousandths, (0.184,) and that of the third set one hundred and twelve one-thousandths, (0.112.) The use of three such sets ot rolls for reducing wire rods to hexagonal wire is preferred, although it might be done in some cases bytwo, as wire rods vary i n size as found in the market. \Vith three sets of rolls a larger range in size of rods can be reduced, and a smaller wire than No. 12 can be produced, if desired. The rolls are preferably of uniform diameter, and each is composed of a disk of hardened steelsuch as are used in making circular saws tightly clamped between cast-iron cheekdisks, which distribute the driving strain and keep the edge of the roll-disk true, after the manner of attaching circular saws to their arbors. One roll of each set is secured centrally on a horizontal shaft, S, to the ends of which a pair of large pulleys, P P, are applied to receive driving-bands, said shaft carrying also in the complete apparatus a pair of bevel -gears, G G, while the other two rolls of the set are carried by short oblique shafts S 8*, provided with bevel-gears G G matching in diameter and number of teeth and in mesh with those first named. All the rolls of each set are thus driven positively and with uniform speed. The successive sets of rolls from the feeding end of the apparatus to its discharging end, or from right to left, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 and 22 to 24, inclusive, are driven at increasingly high rates of speed, proportioned to the reroll-faces, as aforesaid.

ing-rolls R and R, with the shafts S S of the latter, and their pulleys Pand bevel-gears G G are preferably identical with each other,

except as to thickness of rolls or width of' The first roll-section (shown in detail by Figs. 3, 4, and 5 in connection with Figs. 1 and 2,) may consequently represent both. Its back, Fig. 3. and some of the parts above named have already been fully described. The horizontal shaft S of its set of rolls, carrying the vertical roll, is located below the pass of the rolls, and is mounted in a housing, H, and a pair of end bearings, b If, and the oblique shafts S S carrying the inclined rolls are mounted at angles of sixty degrees above said horizontal shaft, in similar housings, H H", the rolls being one hundred and twenty degrees apart, less their thickness. Said housings and bearings have ribbed backs fitted to ways to w milled to receive them in the face of the bed, and each is slotted in line with its ways to receive strong attaching-bolts I) 5", received by screwholes in the face of the bed. Each of said housings is cast and planed in one part, then sawed in two to admit the roll within it, and provided with strong dowel-pins 01, so that its parts shall move together in its ways to or 10*. To so move the housings in adjusting the rolls, adjusting-screws a a parallel with said ways 10 and 20*, respectively, work in lugs Z 1*, cast on the face of the bed, and having screw-tapped holes fitted to said screws, the inner end of each screw having a neck, a, Fig. 5, which is embraced by thewalls of a notch, 12, in the cross-bar of the housing, so that the housing may be moved positively either out or in. All said bolts 22 b are loosened when the rolls are to be adjusted. The adjusting is done by means of said adj usting-screws a a so-that the edges of the rolls shall be just in contact with each other, and said bolts are then tightened up very firmly, and the adjusting-screws serve also to resist any back-thrust on the rolls by the intrusion of the wire-rod metal, X. Each of the bearings of the shafts S 8*, including those in the housings H H are provided with removable bushings U and screws 8, for holding and tightening them, and with oil-holeso, to provide for keeping the shafts well lubricated. Between those portions where depth of metal is required for said ways and screw-holes in the bed, the latter is constructed with a rela tively thin web, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l, and shown in part in Fig. 5.

The second or middle rolls-section, composed, in part, of said upright bed B? and said reducing-rolls R, with the .shaftsS S of the latter and their pulleys P and bevel-gears G G is shown in detail by Figs. 6 and 7 in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. To alternate with said first and third rolls-section, this one must have a vertical roll at top, and the'other two of its set, equidistant therefrom and from each other, below. Its rolls R are consequently so arranged, the horizontal shaft'S, which carries the vertical roll and the driving gears G G, and to which the driving-pulleys P P are applied, being located,with the shaftbearings bb and the housing H of said vertical roll, at the top of the upright bed. The latter, to accommodate said housing and the roll within it, is constructed with a central upward extension, x, Figs. 1, 2, and 7, andthe ways w w and lugs Z Z to coact with the radial adjusting-screws (1 e and the screwholes to coaet with the attaching-bolts b b of the several housings, and supplemental shaftbearings are likewise located and accommodated by the disposition of thick portions of the bed, in conformity to the arrangement of the rolls. The oblique shafts S S of theinclined rolls, having the bevel-gears G G through which they are driven, on'their upper ends, require provision for overcoming their tendency to gravitate, any yielding to which i might affect the coincidence of the roll-edges, so as to require its correction. Such provision is afforded by step-levers 2*, Figs. 6 and 7, attached and adjusted at will by central screws, 3, working in tapped holes in the lower sides of the housings PP H", the heel end of each step-lever havingafulcrum projection, f, Fig. 6, in contact with the housing, while its other extremity bears upward against the rounded lower end of the shaft.

In operation, the pulleys P having been belted to suitable driving-pulleys for the requisite relative speed of the respective sets of rolls, as aforesaid, and the pulley d of the winding-reelWhaviug been belted to a suitable driving-pulley, so as to turn somewhat more rapidly than the reel should,to take up the de 1 livery of the reducing apparatus, a red-hot coil of wire rod, X, is placed on the pinsp of the feedingreel F. The outer end of the wire rod is inserted in the adjacent end, of the guidebore b at the feeding end of the apparatus,

(seen in Fig. 3,) and the rolls are started. At

the first pass of the rolls, Fig. 22, the wire'rod X, Fig. 21, is reducedto triangular shape, and at the second pass, Fig. 23, is. presented in adifferent relative position,without having been twisted or deflected, owing to the 'reeling, of the guide-sections and rolls, as aforesaid, and is herereduced to a smaller and reversed triangular section, while at the third pass, Fig. 24, it is presented in another different position, and is reduced to hexagonal wire, Fig. 25, No. 12, more or less. As soon as a sufficient length of wire has issued at the discharging end of the apparatus, this is wrapped on the winding-reel W, and the latter is started with the rolls, being controlled as to relative speed by ina nipulating its clutch-lever 0, so as to preserve a light draft on the wire, as aforesaid, while the escape of the wire rod from the feedingreel F is retarded more or less by means of the friction-brake b b", so as to cause it to run off under a sufficient tension to straighten it. The movements of the respective reels and rolls are represented by arrows in Fig. 1, and the wire rod and wire are shown in position in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Owing to the interposition of said connecting guide-sections G between the roll-sections, free access to each set of rolls and its appurtenances is at all times afforded, so that any loosening or heating may be at once detected and remedied, and as each connecting-section is attached wholly to the flanges of the receiving and delivering sec tions attached to the beds of successive rollssections, either of them may be readily removed without disturbing any other part of the apparatus, and either of said sections with which it connects may then be removed for inspection or repairs without moving the beds B B B, which is a desideratum.

I have described in detail the construction arrangement, and operation of said apparatus for reducing wire rods to hexagonal wire, but do not wish to limit my claims, hereinafter stated, to details not essential to the respect- We parts and combinations of parts for the respective objects or results herein set forth.

In the modification illustrated by Figs. 26 to 30, inclusive, round wire rods X, Fig. 21, are reduced at three passes, by means of successive sets of rolls R B R, four in each set, to hexagonal wire, Fig. 30, the angles of the metal being opposed to the faces of the rolls at the second and third passes, as in said apparatus described in detail. The guide-bore b would in this case be round, square, and octagonal in its respective lengths, and each guide-section would be divided radially into four parts. It will furthermore be obvious that square bars could be fed to reducing-rolls four in a set as readily as the round wire rod, Fig. 26, with their angles opposed to the faces of the first set of rolls, and that greater or less reductions on the same principle may be arranged for by other mere modifications of the apparatus.

Having thus described my said improvementin apparatus for red ucing wire rods, 830., I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specification 1. In an apparatus for reducing rods or bars, the combination, substantially as herein specified, of two or more sets of flat-faced rolls, three or more in a set, the angular pass of the second set of rolls having its angles intermediate to those of the first pass, whereby the angles or edges produced in one pass are opposed to the faces of the rolls, so as to be rolled radially inward at the next pass, and the production of fins is avoided.

2. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars,the combination, substantially as herein specified, of two or more sets of flat-faced rolls, three or more in a set, each succeeding set having the angles of its pass intermediate to those of the preceding pass, and a straight guide extending from one pass to the next and corresponding with the former, whereby the metal is continuously guided and its angles or edges produced at the first pass are opposed to the faces of the rolls at the next pass without twisting or deflecting the metal.

3. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars, the co mbination,substantially as herein specified, of two or more sets of flat-faced rolls, three or more in a set, each succeeding set having the angles of its pass intermediate to those of the preceding pass, and a continuous guide composed of successive sections, coupled end to end by screws, and each made up of a number of radial parts corresponding to the number ofrollsin theset,and correspondingly reeled with reference to the section next behind it, for the purposes set forth.

I. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars, the combination ofa set of three or more flatfaced rolls and a delivering guide-section on the feeding side, extending inward to the pass of the rolls, and having an angular bore with angles intermediate to those of the pass, and slotted to admit the rolls to the metal within it, substantially as shown.

5. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars, the combination of a set ofthree or more flatfaced rolls mounted on an upright bed, a corresponding set of struts screwed fast to said bed between the rolls and extending beyond the pass of the rolls on the discharging side,and a receiving guidesection attached to the outer ends of said struts, and having a bore corre spending with said pass and a slotted rear end which penetrates to the pass, substantially as shown.

6. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars, a guide-section composed of three or more radial parts, and having an angular bore formed by truncating the inner angles of said parts, substantially as shown.

7. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars, the combination, substantially as herein specified, of two or more sets of rolls, a receiving guide-section attached to the bed of one set and extending from its pass, a delivering guide-section attached to the bed of the next set and extending to its pass, and a connecting guide-section attached at its respective ends to said receiving and delivering guide-seetions, substantially as shown.

8. In apparatus for reducing rods or bars by means of three or more rolls in a set, the COIllbination, as herein specified, of an upright bed, provided on its face with ways radial to the pass of the rolls, and lugs having screwtapped bores parallel to said ways, housings for the rollshafts, having ribbed backs fitted to said ways, and adjusting-screws working through said lugs and swiveled to the outer ends of said housings, for moving the rolls positively inward and outward at will, substantially as shown.

9. The within-described apparatus for reducing wire rods to hexagonal wire, co1nprising three sets of flat-faced rolls, three in a set, the successive sets of reduced thickness, and with the angles of each of the second and third passes intermediate to those of the one next preceding it, and a continuous guide composed of a delivering-section having a round bore fitted to the wire rod, sections having a triangular bore corresponding with the first pass, other sections having a reversed triangular bore corresponding with the second pass, and a last receiving-section having a hexagonal bore fitted to the final product, substantially as specified.

IO. The combination, substantially as herein specified, of a feeding-reel adapted to support red-hot coils of wire rod, and provided with a friction-brake or tension device, a reducing apparatus comprising three sets of flat-faced rolls, three in a set, the successive sets of reduced thickness, and with the angles of each 20 of the second and third passes intermediate to a winding-reel having an independentlydriven loose pulley and a speed-controlling clutch mechanism, arranged and operating substantially as set forth, for the objects stated.

WILLIAM TUCKER. Witnesses:

HENRY M. TOWER, WINFIELD 0., FAY. 

